District reorganization a wonderful opportunity

The hard truth about education in Nevada is that we are dead last. Out of 50 states, we have ranked either 49th or 50th for the past 10 years. When reorganization of the Clark County School District was proposed under Assembly Bill 394, one thing was apparent: Continuing with the status quo was not an option.

The reason we are the worst in the country is not because we have the worst teachers, parents or administrators. And it is certainly not the fault of our students. It is because we have one of the worst systems for delivering education; a system that stifles stakeholders rather than empowering and propelling them toward success.

There are amazing and talented people in Clark County. What they need and deserve is a system that gives them the building blocks for success and the authority to start construction. The plan offered by Canadian educator Michael Strembitsky does just that.

Each school will become an autonomous precinct, thereby streamlining an oversized and over-prescriptive central office. For the first time, education funds will follow students to their schools and the majority of spending decisions will be determined by the people closest to the students: parents, teachers, principal and staff.

There has been discussion about slowing or halting this process. Most noticeably, the Clark County School Board of Trustees has supplied an ever increasing list of their problems with the plan without any proposed amendments or solutions. We know that most of their concerns have already been resolved in the hundreds of hours of debate, analysis and ultimate consensus from dozens of community leaders and national experts.

From a parent’s perspective, we cannot afford to slow down and let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass. If we put this process off for just three more years, that would be 25 percent of a child’s educational experience wasted in a system that we know has been broken for 60 years.

Now is the time to act. We need to seize this momentum and finish the process that started with the passing of AB394.

We have attended each of the 18 legislative meetings and watched this plan pass each hurdle with unanimous votes and bipartisan support. We attended each of the eight town halls and watched the proposed regulations mold and adapt to community suggestions and concerns. And we attended the most recent advisory committee meeting through almost 12 hours of debating and tweaking the regulations which ended with yet another unanimous vote from a committee of five Republicans and four Democrats, led by GOP state Sen. Michael Roberson of Henderson. Committee members all concluded that it is time to move the process forward. We wholeheartedly agree.

Then, last week, the state Board of Education voted in favor of the plan.

As parents, we are thrilled about the opportunity to effect real change in our schools. Parents will no longer be relegated to fundraising and decorating bulletin boards. They will make up 50 percent of each school’s advisory board and will be partners with staff in making decisions about spending, programming and scheduling for their kids. Our children’s biggest advocates will finally have a real and meaningful role in public education.

We encourage all parents who are wondering where to start with this process to think about what they want from their child’s school. Is it better quality meals? Is it more time for physical activity and exercise? Is it an after school ESL tutoring program or a computer coding class? Our advice is this: Ask for it.

Now is the time to start expressing what we want for our children like we never have before. We need to get comfortable asking for change and our schools and administrators need to get comfortable considering those requests.

We are all in this together and for the first time parents are coming to the table as equal partners. Let us recognize the amazing opportunity in front of us and seize it. When you are dead last, the only direction to go is up.

Courtney Sweetin is an education specialist with Breakfree CCSD, a grassroots group made up of parents, educators and community members looking to build a better education system for Clark County children.